A Report on the First Session of “Role of Youth in Good Governance” at Kinnaird College for Women with Collaboration of Centre for Civic Education Pakistan
On 24th of November 2009, the Political Science Department of Kinnaird College for Women Lahore arranged the first session on the “Role of Youth in Good Governance” with the collaboration of “Centre for Civic Education Pakistan”, which is a non-profitable organization based in Islamabad. The purpose of this session was to sensitize the youth and to make them aware of their responsibilities as a citizen of their motherland. The session was well-planned as it started with the introduction of first session in which Syeda Scherbano introduced the CCEP and its efforts in regard of awakening Youth for their role in ensuring good governance. After the brief introduction, Maria Malik gave a PowerPoint presentation on the concept of good governance and how to improve the participation of Youth in good governance.
After the presentation the guest speaker Taimur Rehman delivered an inspirational lecture on the role of youth in ensuring good governance in Pakistan. Mr Taimur Rehman is currently pursuing a Research Degree (PH.D) on the “Class Structure of Pakistan” from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) University of London, and associate with Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Lahore School of Economics and Lahore College of Arts and Sciences as a visiting faculty of economics and international relations department. Simultaneously, he is a founding member of a music group known as Laal Band which is famous for its revolutionary songs based on social and political issues of society.
The political science department also made a play of 20 minutes with the title “is paikar-e-khaki main bher lo ma’e muhabbat-e-watan”, which was written and directed by Namrah Arooj and Sana Iqbal. The play was on the prevailing environment of social and political unrest in Pakistan which is a main cause of hopelessness in the new generation. The purpose of the play was to aware Pakistani youth about their responsibilities towards this country and the theme of the play was well-received by the audience. After the play, the Principal, Dr Bernadette L. Dean shared her views on the active participation of youth in promoting good governance. At the end, Mr. Taimur spelled out the audience with the magic of a revolutionary song “Umeed e Sahar” written by Faiz Ahmed Faiz. The format of the session kept the students involved till the end and a tremendous feedback made this program successful.
The whole programme was assisted and guided by Ms. Saira Malik (head of Political Science Department) and Ms. Zamurrad Awan. The media coverage of the event was done by Geo television and City 42 and Khabrain.
Zamurrad awan
Political Science Dept
Kinnaird College for Women Lhr
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
History of Indo-Pak Relation
History of Indo-Pak Relation
The year 1947 came with the partition of subcontinent in two separate independent states called India and Pakistan which is being considered pre-module by one school of thought however the other school of thought consider it instrumental. Both countries do share much of their common geographic location, and religious demographics yet the unsatisfactory relationship with each other is defined by psychological, ideological and territorial difference which resulted in numerous military conflicts and territorial disputes between them. The hostile relation started between India and Pakistan on the unequal distribution of assets, canal water dispute, and inadequate territorial division which caused serious threat to Pakistani state.
The relationship between India and Pakistan since independence has been troubled and hostile marked by wholesale communal massacres at the time of the partition of British India and three wars and innumerable minor conflicts and disputes subsequently. One critical factor in this history has been the pre-partition heritage of the two political movements that dominated the political environment in the subcontinent both before and after independence – the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League. Most of the political and social concepts that dominated the ideology and psychology of the narrow elites that controlled these two movements survived into the independence period and have not disappeared. This has been particularly true of their intensely negative perceptions of each other, which, moreover, were retained in most respects by a younger generation that otherwise rejected much of the ideology of the older elite.
The importance of this pre-partition heritage is evident in the rhetoric Indians and Pakistanis used in reference to each other a quarter-century after independence. Political literature from both sides, for instance, continues to be filled with discussions of the relevance of the “two-nation” theory, moreover the military regimes have nurtured such sentiments between India and Pakistan. Sumit Ganguly writes in his book “Conflict unending: India-Pakistan tensions since 1947”that the “images of Indian perfidy and duplicity pervaded Pakistani official publications and educational material. The popular press which failed to develop norms of dispassionate reportage and analysis, contributed to chauvinist accounts of Indian malfeasance s and Pakistan grievances.” The sentiments of hatred were further being endorsed by the people who faced brutal attitude by Indians while migrating from India to Pakistan after independence.
The ideological differences between both states before their emergence widened even after their independent stature. For centuries Hindus, have dominated the population of South Asia with a smaller but also prominent Muslim minority, concentrated in the northwest and east, areas that eventually formed the modern countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh. Many political and religious leaders of both groups have seen this religious and cultural split as a key to the dispute, especially in Kashmir, where there is a significant Muslim population living under the rule of New Delhi. Currently, Kashmir remains in a state of military occupation, and both sides continue to incite rebellions on either side of the dividing line, hoping to break off parts of the other's territory.
India and Pakistan since the very moment of their birth have grown ever further apart; and their policies both domestic and international have evolved in increasingly divergent ways. Pakistan is locked in other territorial disputes with India such as the Siachen Glacier, Kori creek and especially over the possession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, over which India and Pakistan fought two major wars in 1948. 1965. and 1971. The third war between India and Pakistan was fought in 1971 which started from East Pakistan but after that spread to the western border. As a result, the Kashmir state again became the theater of same battles, and the old ceasefire line was upset at many points, moreover, in result of 1971 war, Pakistan lost East Pakistan which became Bangladesh. However, in Simla agreement in 1972, both states agreed to resolve their differences through bilateral negotiations or by any other peaceful means mutually agreed upon between them and in accordance with the United Nations Charter. But the tense relations between Indo-Pak continued and in 1998, India and Pakistan did their nuclear tests to display their nuclear technology. In 1999, Kargil war started in Kashmir. India with its propaganda mechanism projected Pakistan as aggressor and alleged Pakistan with promoting cross-border terrorism in Kashmir. Pakistan emphasized that Kashmir is the core issue between Indo-Pak hostile attitude and stresses that Indo-Pak relations cannot become friendly until Kashmir imbroglio is resolved. Pakistan has declared time and again that it is ready to negotiate with India any time, anywhere and at any on the issue of Kashmir. But India wanted cross border terrorism to be discussed. This was the reason for the failure of Lahore declaration and Agra summit in past.
There was an east been observed in Indo-Pak relation in the result of a ceasefire between the two countries in 2003 and fencing of the Line of Control being carried out by the Indian Army. Both India and Pakistan have launched several mutual confidence-building measures (CBMs) to ease tensions between the two. These include more high-level talks, easing visa restrictions, restarting of cricket matches between the two.
Unfortunately the peaceful environment could not work for a long time and in 2008 ten terrorist attacked on Mumbai and killed over 160 people. India blamed the Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Welfare group, for planning and executing the attacks. Islamabad resisted the claims and demanded evidence which they had not been provided as such. India provided evidence in the form of interrogations, weapons, candy wrappers, Pakistani Brand Milk Packets, and telephone, sets which were not enough to accept the involvement of Pakistan in Bombay attack.
No doubt, India is recognized as a biggest democracy of the world but its hegemonic aims to get dominance in the region has troubled the relation between India and Pakistan. As India is focusing on its agreement and pacts with Israel, United States and China instead of paying head on relation with its next door neighbor Pakistan. Both countries need flexibility in their attitude by putting behind their differences, so that they could develop healthy relation which would not only consolidate their socio-economic ties but would strengthen the whole region in the long run.
Lecturer
Zamurrad Awan
Kinnaird College for Women
The year 1947 came with the partition of subcontinent in two separate independent states called India and Pakistan which is being considered pre-module by one school of thought however the other school of thought consider it instrumental. Both countries do share much of their common geographic location, and religious demographics yet the unsatisfactory relationship with each other is defined by psychological, ideological and territorial difference which resulted in numerous military conflicts and territorial disputes between them. The hostile relation started between India and Pakistan on the unequal distribution of assets, canal water dispute, and inadequate territorial division which caused serious threat to Pakistani state.
The relationship between India and Pakistan since independence has been troubled and hostile marked by wholesale communal massacres at the time of the partition of British India and three wars and innumerable minor conflicts and disputes subsequently. One critical factor in this history has been the pre-partition heritage of the two political movements that dominated the political environment in the subcontinent both before and after independence – the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League. Most of the political and social concepts that dominated the ideology and psychology of the narrow elites that controlled these two movements survived into the independence period and have not disappeared. This has been particularly true of their intensely negative perceptions of each other, which, moreover, were retained in most respects by a younger generation that otherwise rejected much of the ideology of the older elite.
The importance of this pre-partition heritage is evident in the rhetoric Indians and Pakistanis used in reference to each other a quarter-century after independence. Political literature from both sides, for instance, continues to be filled with discussions of the relevance of the “two-nation” theory, moreover the military regimes have nurtured such sentiments between India and Pakistan. Sumit Ganguly writes in his book “Conflict unending: India-Pakistan tensions since 1947”that the “images of Indian perfidy and duplicity pervaded Pakistani official publications and educational material. The popular press which failed to develop norms of dispassionate reportage and analysis, contributed to chauvinist accounts of Indian malfeasance s and Pakistan grievances.” The sentiments of hatred were further being endorsed by the people who faced brutal attitude by Indians while migrating from India to Pakistan after independence.
The ideological differences between both states before their emergence widened even after their independent stature. For centuries Hindus, have dominated the population of South Asia with a smaller but also prominent Muslim minority, concentrated in the northwest and east, areas that eventually formed the modern countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh. Many political and religious leaders of both groups have seen this religious and cultural split as a key to the dispute, especially in Kashmir, where there is a significant Muslim population living under the rule of New Delhi. Currently, Kashmir remains in a state of military occupation, and both sides continue to incite rebellions on either side of the dividing line, hoping to break off parts of the other's territory.
India and Pakistan since the very moment of their birth have grown ever further apart; and their policies both domestic and international have evolved in increasingly divergent ways. Pakistan is locked in other territorial disputes with India such as the Siachen Glacier, Kori creek and especially over the possession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, over which India and Pakistan fought two major wars in 1948. 1965. and 1971. The third war between India and Pakistan was fought in 1971 which started from East Pakistan but after that spread to the western border. As a result, the Kashmir state again became the theater of same battles, and the old ceasefire line was upset at many points, moreover, in result of 1971 war, Pakistan lost East Pakistan which became Bangladesh. However, in Simla agreement in 1972, both states agreed to resolve their differences through bilateral negotiations or by any other peaceful means mutually agreed upon between them and in accordance with the United Nations Charter. But the tense relations between Indo-Pak continued and in 1998, India and Pakistan did their nuclear tests to display their nuclear technology. In 1999, Kargil war started in Kashmir. India with its propaganda mechanism projected Pakistan as aggressor and alleged Pakistan with promoting cross-border terrorism in Kashmir. Pakistan emphasized that Kashmir is the core issue between Indo-Pak hostile attitude and stresses that Indo-Pak relations cannot become friendly until Kashmir imbroglio is resolved. Pakistan has declared time and again that it is ready to negotiate with India any time, anywhere and at any on the issue of Kashmir. But India wanted cross border terrorism to be discussed. This was the reason for the failure of Lahore declaration and Agra summit in past.
There was an east been observed in Indo-Pak relation in the result of a ceasefire between the two countries in 2003 and fencing of the Line of Control being carried out by the Indian Army. Both India and Pakistan have launched several mutual confidence-building measures (CBMs) to ease tensions between the two. These include more high-level talks, easing visa restrictions, restarting of cricket matches between the two.
Unfortunately the peaceful environment could not work for a long time and in 2008 ten terrorist attacked on Mumbai and killed over 160 people. India blamed the Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Welfare group, for planning and executing the attacks. Islamabad resisted the claims and demanded evidence which they had not been provided as such. India provided evidence in the form of interrogations, weapons, candy wrappers, Pakistani Brand Milk Packets, and telephone, sets which were not enough to accept the involvement of Pakistan in Bombay attack.
No doubt, India is recognized as a biggest democracy of the world but its hegemonic aims to get dominance in the region has troubled the relation between India and Pakistan. As India is focusing on its agreement and pacts with Israel, United States and China instead of paying head on relation with its next door neighbor Pakistan. Both countries need flexibility in their attitude by putting behind their differences, so that they could develop healthy relation which would not only consolidate their socio-economic ties but would strengthen the whole region in the long run.
Lecturer
Zamurrad Awan
Kinnaird College for Women
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